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Collaborative Summer Library Program 2018 Annual Meeting

Last week, I attended the CSLP’s Annual Meeting as the state rep for New Mexico as well as the chair of the Vendor Committee. This was a big meeting as the membership was presented with the new strategic plan of the organization which moves us from one exclusive vendor of all design, products and incentives to multiple vendors which could mean a broader range of options available to libraries. This change will occur in time for the 2020 program year but we’ve been working hard behind the scenes for almost a year on an RFI for a design house (to redesign the manual) and RFPs for all the purchased products. We’re hopeful this transition won’t be felt too much by our member libraries and will just mean a more efficient, effective and cost-efficient program for public libraries. We also discussed the reorganization of the manual for 2020 which will, hopefully, be more use-friendly and easier to navigate.

The CSLP is a mostly volunteer-run organization with the addition of an Organization Coordinator who came on board June 2017. There are a multitude of committees which are made up solely of volunteers, both state reps and front-line librarians. Most of the committee work is done through emails, some have conference calls and a few have started meeting through video conferencing. I would love to see more New Mexico librarians get involved in the organization, it’s important that our voices be heard in these decisions! I chair the Vendor Committee which is the committee that chooses what all the products in the catalog look like: pencils, t-shirts, reading records, buttons, stickers and everything else. There’s committees for the manuals, the Teen Video Challenge, social media, inclusion and more. If you’d like more information on any single committee or would like to volunteer please email me deanne.dekle@state.nm.us.

The meeting also included presentations from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and how they’re working with the CSLP to include content to the manuals, a PBS affiliate from Pittsburgh on how they’re working with their local public libraries on programs and funding as well as content they have also created for the manuals for this program year as well as content for 2019. This content can be found on the online manual on the CSLP website. If you need help navigating to the content, let me know! It’s pretty cool and includes characters from popular PBS shows like Sesame Street and Martha Speaks. We also had a presentation from Star Net on programming for 2019 (A Universe of Stories). This is an organization that is focused solely on libraries and how they can support STEM education. Check them out for easy programs!

We also voted on slogans for program years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The general themes were decided a while ago and we narrowed down slogan suggestions based on your suggestions that you submitted to me (and to other state reps) earlier in the spring.

  • 2020 Fairytales/Folktales/Mythology/Fantasy, artist will be LeUyen Pham and the slogan is Imagine Your Story
  • 2021 Animals, artist will be Salina Yoon and the slogan is Tails and Tales
  • 2022 Social Justice/Community Activism, artist will be Sophie Blackall and the slogan is All Together Now